Utah

Amber’s Wedding Sneak Peek, Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m working on Amber’s wedding album design and had to share some early sneak peek images from her reception at the Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City, Utah. There are so many beautiful images of these two, it’s hard to pick favorites. But here are some that really stand out to me.

My specialty as one of the top Master Photographers in the country, is lighting people beautifully while capturing true emotion. As you look through these images, notice how the emotion of these two being in love and wanting to be with each other, shows in every photograph. And I hope you appreciate too how great they look everywhere, no matter the lighting conditions (shade, direct sunlight, overcast, sunset, even nighttime).

Starting off, I love these images under this stone arch. The warm colors makes for a great backdrop for these two.

And this natural light photo using direct sun causing dramatic shadows and implied angles is just killer.  

Here’s a fun trio showing Amber’s gorgeous dress, front and back.

These two are both great golfers and love to golf together, which made this location perfect for their reception. We had to go out to the green for some images of them.

Later at sunset we broke away from the party and went out for a few more fun images under the golden sky.

I love this dip just as the sun also “dips” behind the mountains at sunset.

And one final night image after everyone has left to close out the album design.

I can’t wait to share more images and the entire album. But until then, if you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Gorgeous Drone Video & Photos of the Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve got so many great photos and shoots to share here on my blog. I photograph people of course, focusing on custom portraits that capture emotion and are extremely well lit. But sometimes I also like to photograph abstract shapes and the natural beauty of the world.

I live near the edge of the Great Salt Lake which gives me a variety of beautiful terrain in all directions. My studio location is in a forest of tall green trees, but a few miles away I’ve got salt flats, open desert space, waterfowl and wetland areas, and large open fields and marsh areas too. Twenty minutes away to the east and I’ve got tall mountains and rugged canyons. Heading south there’s all the gorgeous red rock often used in movie locations. And heading north (as we did with friends here) we can explore the north end of the lake, which is a mix of alkaline flats and shallow shores of the Great Salt Lake.

So at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, a small group of friends of mine all went out to the Spiral Jetty. Some wanted to float in the extra high salinity of the northern end where the water is so dense, you can’t sink. Others wanted a fun excuse to enjoy the desert and great weather. I personally loved the idea of getting away from civilization, enjoying the beautiful air and open country, and I really wanted to fly over the area with my drone to photograph the colors and shapes from above.

Play this video above in full screen and in HD to see the gorgeous clarity. I especially love the moving water ripples, and the moving cloud shadows over top of all the wonderful and abstract shapes and colors. I also like the mix of very high shots (300-400 feet up) with video from very low, flying right over the water and photographing the reflections of the sky and clouds. And the music really makes this work, thanks to MusicByElise.com.

And here are some of my favorite photographs. If you look closely in this first one, you can see me standing at the very top of the spiral. I’ve got a colored landing pad (to protect the drone’s tiny parts from flying dust). You can see that pad as a small speck of color in the otherwise blue/gray dirt and rocks.

Here’s a photograph of some of my friends, out wading in the water. All of the alkaline and salt deposits create beautiful and abstract shapes that are best seen from above. I especially love the blue shapes in the bottom left corner juxtaposed with the warm colors, with a hint of blue sun reflecting in the top right corner.

More abstract colors and shapes.

Here is flying really low over the water. I love seeing the mix of mud and reflections in the water, along with the mountains in the distance.

Here are a couple long shots showing the distant mountain ranges that surround the Great Salt Lake, along with the mix of sand, water, and colors.

And closing the shoot with a drone-selfie before packing up our gear and heading to a favorite steak restaurant in the area.

It was a great day with friends to enjoy the open space of Utah in the warm spring weather.

If you need some drone photography or video for your business, give me a call, 801-728-3317. There are some legal requirements for shooting drone photos and video commercially, which people may not understand. However my dad is a long-time private pilot with the FAA, so with him on site for the shoot, we are good to go and can get some fantastic footage for you. Unique and artistic perspectives are always needed to stand out. And my artistic background in lighting and composition, mixed with the unique perspectives of a commercially flown drone means I can give you that and more.

And until next time, America.

Trajan & Micaela’s Baby at 4 Months

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

My good friend Trajan and his wife Micaela have a new beautiful baby boy. He’s has the best smile and I had the blessing of photographing him at his 4 month mark. Here’s a video showing the shoot.

I love photographing babies, and having this baby in the studio was extra fun. He laughed, smiled, and gave me a bunch of cute expressions, and was a good sport throughout. Lighting is always key to making baby’s eyes, skin, and coloring pop, while also keeping them in constant focus. And here in my Utah studio, I have a ton of equipment to make the lighting perfect.

I hope you notice that every one of these baby pictures is tack sharp. That’s not always the case with most photographers. Often they have one eye out of focus, or the nose or outfit is in focus, but the eyes aren’t. And often when they have parents holding the baby then mom or dad or even even all three are all out of focus. But you won’t have those amateur problems here with me. Every picture is perfect, which means they can be printed any size, even enlarged and hung on the wall – no problem.

One idea I love for home art installations for baby portraits are my collages. Here’s one I designed up showing a variety of expressions, along with closeups of his tiny hands and feet.

We had so many great photos of him. The shoot went wonderfully and he just smiled at me over and over. Here’s one of my favorites of him smiling, making a great stand-alone photograph or as a trio.


He was already getting big for my wrap, but I thought it was cute with his feet sticking out. 

And this shoot made for a fun excuse to get out my little knit hats and try some of them on him. He placated us by just sleeping soundly during this process.

But then when we changed the studio up for another set of photos, he laughed and played which was perfect for showing his tiny hands and feet. 

This little baby was so fun to work with. His personality really showed through and we got a lot of variety. If you have a new baby, give me a call. And if you have a friend that needs some beautiful baby portraits, send them my way. It’s always fun to have babies in the studio and I am a master at lighting them. My number is 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Amber’s Spring Engagement Shoot, Outdoor & Studio

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve been really excited to share the engagement shoot of these two. They are great together and make a wonderful couple. A few weeks ago in early spring we did this incredible shoot for their engagements. We did a mix of studio and outdoor portraits. And later I’ll have to share images from their wedding reception this weekend at the beautiful Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club because it was all just magical. But first, we need to see these from their engagement shoot.

This first photograph was one of the top favorites, and part of their wedding invitation design.

And this painting was finished as a canvas for their reception display, and will go above their fireplace in their home. 

I love these paintings. You really have to see them in person to see how wonderful they are. But here’s a shot of it displayed at their Utah wedding reception.

I love these outdoor photos. The gorgeous colors and dramatic sky really pop with master lighting techniques on location. And you can see how great these two are together. Their expressions say it all.

This next image with mixed lighting creating the dynamic shadow lines, was one of the top picks and part of the invitation design. 

And here are few more favorites from the studio, with a change of clothes and lighting styles for more variety.

This trio was one of my favorite things from the shoot. 

I hope you can see how great these two are together. I’m honored to have been a part of their wedding and wish them decades of future happiness together. And don’t worry, I will for sure post some of their wedding reception images too. You’ll want to see them, but I do have a bunch of other fun shoots that I want to share with you first.

In the meantime, if you’re getting married there is no better wedding investment than your photographs. Of all the things you spend on, well-made photographs are the only thing you keep after the wedding. So give me a call and let’s talk about creating your dream portraits, 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Matthew’s Wakeboarding & Senior Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I love photographing high school seniors. I always try to make every photoshoot extra creative, but high school seniors appreciate the ultra creative shoots even more allowing me to push things even further. That means I can photograph seniors with a commercial fashion ad look, and Matthew was the perfect subject for this wakeboarding collage project.

Instead of just shooting seniors in a simple, minimalistic way, I in stead do big over-the-top shoots. We do high-end studio work at my Utah location, sometimes mix in outdoor portraits in the studio gardens, and can even go on location to relevant places that mean something to the senior. And I always try to design up a cool collage that tells a story about who the senior is at this point in life.

This video shows more about how this collage was created, as well as how it looks framed and ready to hang.

And here is the final wakeboarding collage.

Here are some of his other favorite images. We did a variety of clothing changes, along with a mix of lighting styles.

Matthew will be serving a religious mission for the LDS Church and so we also mixed in some cool pictures of him in his suit.

If you’re a senior, now is the time to get in. We’re finishing up with the class of 2017 and getting a head start with the class of 2018 who want to beat the rush. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Street Shoot in Carlisle Pennsylvania, Part 2

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

While teaching a photographic workshop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania we did a shoot on the beautiful street in front of our hotel. I had previously posted the high school senior that I’d photographed, but I shot a cute little girl who was the daughter of the photographer who organized the event. I wanted to share some of those images as well with again, no retouching. We have great expressions, great skin, eyes that pop, and our color is nailed throughout the shoot. I taught systems for doing all of this on a shoot and these images show how great it works throughout a portrait session.

This little gal had such a variety of expressions, that I thought a composite design was best to show them all off. I can imagine her older in a few years, looking back on this shoot, loving this design, and enjoying her young personality.

And this trio shows off another cute outfit of hers. I really liked her boots in this and wanted to show them off.

If you’re a photographer and want to learn more, check out my live workshops as well as online training at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com. And if you’re in need of some great photography, give me a call, 801-728-3317. Spring is here and I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Street Fashion Shoot in Carlisle Pennsylvania, Part 1

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I just got back from teaching a multi-day photography seminar to the Professional Photographers of Pennsylvania. For one of those days, we did a live shoot on the beautiful street of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, just outside the convention hotel. They had this very pretty high school senior model for me to photograph so that I could demonstrate various lighting techniques while shooting fashion images.

The big take-away I hoped photographers would get out of my program was that no matter the location or lighting style, images should be so good in the camera that they don’t need retouching. Eyes should pop, skin should glow, and people should look better and thinner because of your lighting techniques – not retouching.

And great images means a quicker work-flow, cleaner retouching techniques, and far more powerful photographs because they’re believable. As a followup to that shoot, I wanted to post some of my favorites – unretouched of course. I spent my computer time picking favorites, doing some quick color toning, and adding edges. Other than that, no retouching, no eye whitening, no skin softening, nothing. I hope people can see how great these images look. In fact they’re better than most people’s images after retouching.

During the workshop I showed how to create and design collages for clients. During that demo I shared my quick retouching techniques. So in this collage, two photographs are retouched. The rest are not. I doubt most people could tell which ones are which. If anything I hope people notice the variety of personality and expressions from such a short shoot.

And here is a fun trio design using photographs shot just inside the stoop of an old building.

This next image is actually a painting that I created in front of the crowd of photographers. So this was first retouched, then used as a reference to create this painting. I love paintings because they’re so unique and different. And they look stunning on the wall.

This blue tone to the background is not a computer effect. It was done in camera with just lighting. This street was fantastic to shoot on. Every building and doorway was quaint and engaging. We had a lot of wonderful meals on our downtime in this area, all within walking distance.

And to finish up the shoot back at the hotel, a few images in the hotel lobby using a couple strategically placed lights.

I also did a second shoot with an adorable little girl. I hope to post some of those later. But for now, if you’re a photographer and would like to train with me, check out my training website at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com. I do a few live events around the country each year. But I also offer full online courses on everything from lighting like a master, to getting great expressions, to the quickest workflow using Adobe products. Those courses are great for people who want to learn at home, or get a head start on a live training event with me, or for those who want even more training after a live event.

And for kicks, here is an iPhone pic of me in action shot by one of the photographers. Aside from my entertaining “stance” (which is the correct way to bring your camera-line lower), I like this photo because it shows my camera meter. I believe strongly in constantly measuring the light from all directions. And it also shows the how the street scene and the model look normally with “natural light” (which is how the iPhone sees things) versus in my photographs which have specific lighting techniques added.

If you’re in the market for some new photographs, either as a senior looking for a fashion shoot, or perhaps you need something for your family, now is the time. Give me a call as spring is booking up, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create some fantastic photographs of you.

And until next time, America.

Audrey’s Winter Wedding Full Album Design, Salt Lake City LDS Temple

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

One of my favorite parts of a wedding is delivering the final album to my clients. After all the countless hours of photography, retouching, and design, there is nothing as dramatic and impactful as seeing the images in their final physical form.

My award-winning wedding albums are the finest available. They’re best seen in person to fully appreciate them because the images are crystal clear and jump off the page. Hopefully you can get a good idea watching this video where I share both Audrey’s abstract painted canvas as well as every page of her album design.

This wedding was on a frigid winter day at the Salt Lake City LDS Temple in Utah. You’ll notice too that we have a variety of lighting conditions from indoors, outdoors, sunny, shade, sunset, twilight, and even nighttime. Most photographers are unable to shoot consistently in varying lighting conditions, yet here you’ll notice that we have great skin tones, wonderfully deep skies and backgrounds, and romantic expressions throughout. Every image and page of her album is impactful and tells the story of their day.

In the video I zoom in on her painted canvas to show the brush strokes, and here is the painting below. I love creating unique pieces of personal art for people, and this is going to look so beautiful in their home for many years to come.

I’m so excited to deliver everything to Audrey. Her wedding was so romantic and gorgeous and we had so many wonderful photographs to design her album with, that you can hardly tell the day was frigid cold. You may have seen some of the early favorites on my blog and Instagram from her wedding, and I think it’s even better to see how the entire wedding collection came together in it’s final presentation.

Below are some of her page designs though you can see them in HD using the video above too. You’ll notice ice skaters from the Gallivan Center ice rink in the video too. Audrey’s reception was next door and the skating rink and it’s vivid colors made for a great backdrop.




If you’re getting married, I’d love to create something like this for you too. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Updated Studio Portrait for Spring

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m being featured in a magazine and needed to turn in a headshot, and realized the latest image I had of myself was a year old. Now a year is not that long when you’re an adult. Still, I believe we should all have updated portraits to fill both our business and personal needs.

I’ve talked before about how nobody really likes getting their portraits taken, including me. But that’s also exactly why I focus on creating great portraits of people. And if I want my clients to update their images, I should lead by example and make sure my portrait is always current.

I think it’s important to have current and professional portraits of yourself for business needs and for personal needs too. It wasn’t too long ago when our ancestors would get one or two professional portraits in a lifetime, and they’d save up to do it. Now we can easily come to the studio to get professional portraits regularly, be we often don’t. Instead I see some professionals using the same photograph for what seems like 10 years. Instead of looking “younger” by using old photos, it appears as if they’re sad about their age, or yearn for a distant youthful version of themselves. Rather I think it’s better to be happy and confident about our current stage of life and who we’ve become by having a current and updated studio portrait that reflects that.

And because no one likes being in front of the camera, my biggest job as a photographer is to read people and connect with them, helping them feel comfortable to bring out their real emotion in a portrait while also deciding the best angles and ways to light them. I make it painless and easy. And because business portrait sessions are short, we often have time to look at the images right then. You can see how it went, how good you look, and if you’re concerned about your hair or something, we can shoot more while you’re here. I’ll make sure you get something you love and are proud to use.

So with all that in mind and being the first day of spring, I took some time to photograph myself. I try to change up the ways I light myself. I don’t want to use the same angles and lighting that I know have worked in the past. I want the entire look to be current and new. Here are my three favorites. I’ll live with these for a while and see which ones I use more, but now I’m ready with three current options to send to magazines and speaking events: a color image, one with my toned color nouveau, and a high-contrast black and white, .

 

If you’re a professional and need a great new portrait, give me a call, 801-728-3317.

And if your entire office needs new portraits, I can come to your office and set up a mini studio. That way each person only has to give me 3 minutes of their time, and they’re done. I’ll even pick and retouch the best ones and send the finished images over. No hassle for anyone.

Give me a call. If you’re in the Ogden, Salt Lake City, or Provo areas of Utah, spring is a great time to get some updated portraits.

And until next time, America.

New 11th Gold Bar Degree Awarded to Bry Cox

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m happy to announced that I was awarded my 11th ‘Gold Bar,’ which is the equivalent of earning my Master or Craftsman degrees eleven additional times. Less than 1% of professional photographers are Certified, and even fewer have all three credentials, Master, Craftsman, and Certification.

For those unfamiliar, photographers wear their credentials to conventions. It’s a quick way to recognize someone’s rank and level of service to the industry, and it also encourages others to earn their credentials. The yellow ribbon and Master medallion is for the Master degree, blue ribbon and medallion is for Craftsman. Someone who earns both gets a yellow/blue combo ribbon. And every time you earn one of of those again, you gain a gold bar.

Each degree represents many years of continual learning, competitions, and service. Additionally, some of the pins show I’ve been Certified for over 10 years, a PPA member for over 15 years, and the triangle pins are ‘National Photographer of the Year’ award for Bronze and Silver levels. I also have two pins for speaking at big events in China, PPA China many years ago, and Photo Plus about a year ago.

Master of Photography (M.Photog.)
Awarded for superior photographic skills—demonstrated through the PPA International Photographic Competition, advanced education and service to the industry.

Photographic Craftsman (Cr.Photog.)
Awarded for service as an orator, author or mentor. This degree shows a photographer has gone beyond the creation of images, dedicating time to move the industry forward and encourage education.

Certified Professional Photographer (CPP)
Assures a photographer’s knowledge, experience and continuance to develop new skills and techniques. It is a declaration of professional competence and quality assurance because certification is a credential consumers and businesses understand.

If you’re a photographer wanting to continually enhance your knowledge while working towards earning your credentials like Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and/or getting Certified, you should absolutely join PPA. Part of being a degree holder is teaching, so also check out my live workshops as well as online training videos and resources at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com to help speed up your learning process.

And if you’re someone looking to hire a great photographer, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to hear from you.

And until next time, America.

Early Favs of KUTV News Teams

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I spent a jam packed last two days at KUTV 2 News photographing all of their news teams and staff. They’ve all become friends from not only the years of doing their professional photographs, but also from shooting many of their individual personal events like family, children and weddings. So this commercial shoot becomes a great time so see everyone.

As you’d guess, they are a great group to work with. And when I’m there we photograph everything we can: various combinations of groups, individuals, and in multiple locations. I bring in a couple loads full of lighting equipment, and we shoot away. This way they’re set for all their photographic needs for billboards, promos, and prints. Next time you’re driving through Salt Lake City, keep your eyes out for their beautiful billboards.

We needed two images turned around quickly, so I thought I’d share these early favorites of the morning and evening news teams. I love the clean, beautiful lighting, the great smiles, and the overall impact of these images.

As I was finishing up yesterday, I was looking through their Instagram feed and saw these fun behind the scenes photos. This collage below is linked directly to their Instagram so you can click it and go through their slideshow from our shoot. Click their group photo and then swipe left and right to see all the others. There’s even some fun boomerang videos in there too.

 

Once the project is all finished, I might share a few more favorites. But I thought it’d be neat for everyone to see these today.

If you’re a business and need some photographic work like headshots, product images, or even commercial architecture photos of your building or entryway, give me a call. 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Jared and Paige’s Full Wedding Album, Event Held at Hub 801 Events in Ogden Utah

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve had so many fun shoots to share, I’ve been wanting to share this wedding album design for a while. So as February comes to an end and warmer weather starts coming in, it begins to feel more like spring – and that means that couples are getting engaged. So it’s a great time for me to share this wonderful wedding and album design from Jared and Paige’s wedding, held in Ogden Utah at the Hub 801 Events Center.

You may have seen some of their early sneak peek images. But now, here is their entire design, in a movie/slideshow format. This is best viewed large, full screen and in HD (if your internet connection allows).

There is so much more that can’t fit in an album, and I actually make a larger video slideshow for my wedding couples that show the full wedding story, showing all the other images. I won’t share it here because those shows are very long. To balance size and cost, wedding albums highlight the the most impactful images from a couple’s wedding day story, with the images being as large as possible so that they can be seen and enjoyed.

One of the hardest parts of a wedding is cutting the images down to the best of the best for the album. if I included everything I loved, the albums would be very large and expensive. But the good news is that I include digitals of all the other great images that don’t make it in the physical album. Here is one such set of images, a series of me doing a warm-up routine with the kids using my little stuffed bunny. I do this so that the kids aren’t scared or worried about me later when it comes time to photograph them. That way when it comes time to photograph them, I can just interact with them and get real expressions that are truly authentic and captivating.

Normally I don’t get pictures of me doing warm ups like this, but there happened to be a mirror opposite me. With my light already set up, I was able to get a few shots off-hand of this little girl climbing up on the couch and suggesting that we “put our heads together” and cooperate to keep my bunny from falling off my head.

And here are some of the wedding album page designs fro the album. First, opening the book with a great, romantic image that establishes the location of the wedding.

Here are some of the wonderful moments from the wedding ceremony.

I always love to get some updated family photographs of both sides of the family.
And of course the creative and romantic couple portraits. We did a variety of indoor and outdoor photographs, even using the city’s setting sun in some images.

And the album closes with them running off and driving away.These are just some of the wedding album spreads, so to see the entire design, watch the movie above.

Jared and Paige’s album was delivered in a beautiful box and case that utilizes a clear, magnetic top. It’s great for display, but also protects the album when it’s not in use.

If you’re getting married and would like to talk more about weddings, prices, and options, please give me a call. I’d love to show you more and hear what you love and are looking for in wedding photography. 801-728-3317

And feel free to check out my main website at BryCox.com as well as my blog here that shows tons of past weddings.

And until next time, America.